"Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is."
― Assata Shakur
I have been given the time and opportunity to become friends with a man who lives on the street. Every time I see him and his dog around, I stop and chat for a bit or I'll wave if I'm in a hurry. Very recently, I saw him and I sat down and we talked about life. He told me that as much as he appreciates the small things I do for him, what really mattered were times like this, where all I offered was my company. He asked me what I believe and I said, "just like anyone else, you're no different than me." To that he said, "I speak to you like I speak to God." Before I could say anything he said to sit on that for a moment and asked if I understood what he meant.
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”
― Meister Eckhart
It is easy to judge, harder to discern. And no matter how hard we work to achieve a certain lifestyle, we will always be equals. For some, this unity is an insult of their contributions in this consumer capitalist culture. But I believe that feeling that we associate with anger is linked to the severance of our emotions we were told served us no purpose as a "contributing member of society." This meant that our time spent in all aspects of our lives would solely be transactional with no real connection.
To counter this, the greatest act of rebellion we could ever accomplish is that of love. To get in touch with our emotions so we may be whole again.
“Love has never been a popular movement. And no one's ever wanted, really, to be free. The world is held together, really it is held together, by the love and the passion of a very few people. Otherwise, of course, you can despair. Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you've got to remember is what you're looking at is also you. Everyone you're looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be.”
― James Baldwin
